Far-left groups such as antifa appear to use skateboards as tools of destruction, videos captured at protests and riots show.
Anthony Huber, one of the men fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during the 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, had gained attention for the use of his skateboard to attack Rittenhouse. (RELATED: Kyle Rittenhouse Acquitted On All Charges)
Anthony Huber, 26, was shot & killed in Kenosha, Wisc. at the BLM riot. He was filmed chasing down the armed teen and hitting him when he was on the ground with a skateboard. He has a criminal history that includes charges of battery & repeat domestic abuse. #KenoshaRiots pic.twitter.com/1rvx7ltKKS
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) August 27, 2020
Skateboards have also been used to violently smash through windows or to assault police officers.
Antifa-BLM from Portland are marching through Vancouver, Wash. and smashing windows using skateboards. Police aren’t responding. #antifa https://t.co/UgGPesm9qX
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) November 1, 2020
Here’s a copy of the video, that was later deleted by the original poster, showing rioters beating on a CPD officer.
h/t: @CWBChicago pic.twitter.com/JvipmYodZa— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 16, 2020
Skaters appear to have a history of participating in protests a well as utilizing the slogan “skate and destroy” to summarize their involvement in protest culture, according to a blog post from skater magazine Jenkem.
“Things are replaceable; life is not. No building nor brand no matter how luxurious should be valued at anything even approximating a human’s life, no matter what human,” the article said.
In the post, titled “A Skater’s Guide To Attending A Protest,” the writers break down the approach and necessary supplies needed for attending a protest. One of the tools they specifically mention is a skateboard, explaining how “it’s pretty cool how many uses a skateboard can have in a protest.”
Skateboards allow protesters to write protest slogans on the grip, and can be used as a “tried and true device for quickly dipping out of tricky situations,” the article said. They are also effective in self-defense and can make a shield and even “if you get enough skaters on the frontline you can link together to form a phalanx on some gladiator kind of tip.”
Tara Szczepanski, a video journalist, is also shown below being allegedly attacked by antifa/BLM members in New York with eggs, umbrellas and a skateboard.
Attacked at a #BLM #Antifa #NyC rally, smashed egg in my head, hit with umbrella, spat on, knocked with a skateboard as the crowd says don’t protect her she’s for Trump. pic.twitter.com/hpSTdIaZt2
— Tara Szczepanski (@PoAmBrotherhood) January 10, 2021
Skateboards have also been used to break into stores and smash cop cars.
Scary scene in Santa Monica as people are trying to protect businesses from looters. pic.twitter.com/83gFVY8zkT
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) May 31, 2020
When did skateboards become riot weapons? First that lunatic slamming one into the front window at the CNN center last night, now this … https://t.co/EDbuUR1b9I
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 30, 2020
The video below shows “antifascists” using pepper spray and skateboards to attack “patriots” in Portland.
March started, BIG FIGHT as “antifascists” pepper spray “patriots”, skateboard used as weapon; chaos pic.twitter.com/F11JRB1Seo
— Michael Bivins (@itsmikebivins) August 6, 2017
A skate shop based in California, Whatever Skateboards, advertises on their site that they do custom antifa skateboards.